Summary: Built in 1895, this synagogue replaced the overcrowded
Newe Sholaum Synagogue on Hamburg’s famous street, the
Jungfernstieg (the Newe Sholaum Synagogue no longer met
safety regulations). The new building was privately financed
and erected on private property. Services were Orthodox
even though certain elements of Orthodox tradition were
omitted; accordingly, the Neue Dammtor Synagogue
remained independent of the Orthodox and the Reform
religious associations. The Neue Dammtor congregation
also maintained a school for religious studies.
The synagogue stood in the backyard of the property
at 4 Beneckestrasse and was enclosed on three sides. The
architectural style was largely Oriental: colorful tiles on the
northern facade, Oriental features in the 500-seat interior
and a colorful dome atop the building.
Although the synagogue was vandalized on Pogrom
Night (November 1938), it was not destroyed. In fact,
Neue Dammtor was the only synagogue in Germany to
be rebuilt after the pogrom, with services continuing in
secret until 1943. Rabbi Carlebach (an Orthodox rabbi
from a neighboring synagogue which had been destroyed)
conducted services in the Neue Dammtor during that period. The synagogue was destroyed during the war, and the
grounds are now a university-owned park. A memorial
plaque commemorates the former synagogue.

Photo: The Neue Dammtor synagogue in Hamburg. Courtesy of: Archives of the City State of Hamburg.